


Lady and the Tramp

by ohlookanotherwriter



Category: Wicked - All Media Types
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-26
Updated: 2014-07-25
Packaged: 2018-02-10 11:22:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,229
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2023257
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohlookanotherwriter/pseuds/ohlookanotherwriter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was never easy growing up on the streets. It started with petty crimes; she would steal from local bakers. Just a roll or two. However, it quickly turned into bigger things. She found herself pickpocketing strangers and when she got into her early teens, she was breaking into houses and stealing valuable trinkets that she could easily pawn off for a quick buck.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Elphaba approached the window of the mansion, but not before gaping at the vastness of the building. What single family needs five stories all to themselves? She asked herself as she slid the window up with ease. The green woman sighed in relief at the fact that it had not been locked and pulled the hood of her cloak over her head.

Elphaba Thropp hadn’t had the need to steal from anyone in years; she had honestly thought that she had left the life behind for good and had moved on. However, the meager pay she gets from her job as a janitor at the Shiz University library wasn’t nearly substantial enough for her to get by. Especially now with her landlord banging at her door every day, demanding the past months rent. The man, Taye, had been getting increasingly frustrated with Elphaba, threatening to throw her out more and more frequently. One day, he went so far as to have all of her belongings removed from the tiny apartment, only to have them replaced within the next few days. It had only been a warning shot, but it was enough to make Elphaba retreat to her old lifestyle of thievery.

Being the only person of the janitorial staff at the library, Elphaba felt as though she had deserved a raise. A raise may not have covered her total rent, but it would certainly help. She was definitely a hard enough working woman; she made sure all the shelves of each individual bookshelf were dusted daily, she cleaned up every single mess, and she even took on the responsibility of caring and tending to some of the older books. She would have asked for a raise, if her boss didn’t absolutely hate her. Madame Morrible−a horrid, carp-like woman whom all the other librarians and most of the teachers and students at Shiz call “Horrible Morrible” when she’s not around to hear it−was an extremely hate filled woman indeed. Her and Taye would get along swimmingly, Elphaba often thought.

Now I’ve probably bored you to quite some extent and maybe, just perhaps, you’re wondering who Elphaba has found herself robbing blind this very night. Our verdant antagonist−protagonist?−expertly crept through the downstairs window of the Upland Manor, not making a single peep while doing so. She’s heard about this family many times before−how could you not, honestly? They’re perhaps the most well known family in all of Gillikin. Definitely the richest. And with a rich family came valuable goods.

Elphaba stood in what appeared to be the family room. There was no doubt highly expensive furniture placed in a semicircle in the center of the room, opening up towards a fireplace with embers still glowing a faint red-orange. One rather long couch was positioned at the top of the semicircle with loveseats and arm chairs forming the arches on either side; all the furniture were the same shade of violet.

Remembering her objective, Elphaba lurked towards the mantel atop the fireplace where gorgeous vases and a few family photos resided. Slender, green fingers wrapped around a beautiful light blue vase that took on the effect of water and lifted it up so the owner of them could get a look at the stamp on the bottom. Ozarovski. This will surely be worth a pretty penny. Elphaba carefully stashed the vase away in her satchel.

With the removal of the Ozarovksi vase, there was a slight gape on the mantel. Slight, but still noticeable. Elphaba stepped away from the fireplace to get a slightly better look at the arrangement of everything on the mantel. She mentally reaarranged the items and when she was pleased with what she had thought of, she took to physically doing it. Graceful hands danced across vases and pictures until one particular photo caught her attention. It was hard to see in the darkness of the room, but she could faintly make out the image of a girl around her age, nineteen. She walked over to the open window, hoping the moonlight would provide a decent enough source of light.

The photo was of a short, smiling, rather petite blonde. She had on a very light pink dress and held a few textbooks in her arms. Elphaba recognized the building in the background to be the Shiz University library. She looked at the photo for a good few moments and every now and then caught her gaze drifting towards that smile. It made the green woman smile herself, something she hadn’t done in a long while. After deciding she had wasted enough time, Elphaba turned to place the photo back on the mantel.

“Who are you?”

Elphaba’s heart stopped.

She jumbled around with the framed photo, determined not to drop it. When she finally had a good grip on it, she set it down on a table next to the rather long couch and made to pull her hood further down as to hide her face better.

“I asked you a question.” The voice, sounding somewhat scared, spoke again. Elphaba’s gaze locked with the floor as she clutched the strap of her satchel with both hands. Never in any of Elphaba’s experiences had she ever been caught. She was always very careful, very stealthy.

Soft footsteps sounded and Elphaba raised her gaze just enough to see dainty, pink slippers making their way towards her in slow, cautious steps. She looked up even more to see the beginning of blonde curls that just met the frightened girl’s shoulders. With a quick flick of the eyes upwards, she saw the face of the girl in the photo, just as she expected she would.

Just my luck.

“Answer me or I’ll scream. I swear to Oz, I’ll do it. There will be servants here in less than a clock tick. Not to mention Momsie and Popsicle, ohhhh, you wouldn’t want to mess with Popsi−”

“I’m no one.” Elphaba managed to say in a rough voice, raising an arm in an attempt to ward the girl off and darted her gaze towards the ground again. The light footsteps stopped. Out of fear that her face may have been showing, Elphaba once again tugged at the hood of her cloak. It would be easy to pick out such a green face in a line up.

“Have you taken something?” The fear that was once in the voice had subsided and now it sounded more like… Pity.

Elphaba had never once felt remorseful about stealing, especially not from such a wealthy family, but now a knot had formed in her stomach. Her grip on her satchel loosened. Hesitantly, she opened the latch and felt around for the small vase. When her fingers grazed the ceramic, she softly clasped her hand around it and pulled it out of the weathered bag. With trembling hands, she extended the vase towards the blonde, waiting for her to take it back.

She never did.

Instead, she reached for Elphaba’s face. She lightly gripped the hood in her hand, prepared to pull it back and reveal the person underneath it, but Elphaba pulled away from her grasp. She supposed it was just instinctive that she had clutched the vase to her chest−she had done the same motion many times in her childhood with loaves of bread that she had stolen from bakers−but when she realized that she had been holding it so tight, she loosened her grip on it and pushed it towards the blonde again.

“Keep it.” The soft voice spoke. “You probably need it more than I do, or else you wouldn’t be here, I guess. Besides, we have plenty more almost identical to it.”

Elphaba wanted to lock eyes with the girl and thank her. For a moment, she wanted to insist that the Upland take it back, that she could never take the expensive vase from her. For some reason, Elphaba felt the need to have something to do with this girl. To be acquainted with her in some way. Perhaps she could sit down on the rather long couch and have a civil conversation with the girl.

She never did.

Instead, she fled out of the open window.

**  
  
**


	2. Chapter 2

When Elphaba returned to her apartment in Shiz after the two day walk back from the Upland Manor in Frottica, she collapsed in her dusty old bed. She held the Ozarovski vase that the Upland allowed her to keep in her hands, turning it around gently and taking in the design. It was a beautiful water design, with lilypads and small, almost lifelike fish painted onto it. Elphaba was so mesmerized by it that she felt as if she could have reached in and glide her hand through the  water; it was so tempting, even though she knew it would be detrimental to her.

Gazing at the vase for so long, Elphaba was suddenly transported back to her adolescent years. Even though she was never too fond of water, she often enjoyed sitting down and gazing at it, always from a fairly distant spot. She always refrained from coming within five yards of it, fearing that some kids would splash her. By accident or on purpose, Elphaba didn’t really care. Kids rarely ever stuck around her anyway. They would stay long enough to make sure that the girl had actually been green and that the shade of her skin was not just some trick of the light and then ran off. Sometimes there were screams, other times just very loud gasps.

Regardless, she liked to sit by the water late at night, speculating on her past, present, future. Ever since she was a little kid, she had wanted to be someone important, someone that would matter to Oz, someone that would change the world entirely.So much for that thought.

Whenever Elphaba worked up enough courage to get close to the water, whether it be a river or a pond or anything of the sort, she would skip rocks across the surface. Never when anyone else was around, though.

The green woman’s thoughts were interrupted by a loud banging on the front door of her apartment. Quickly, Elphaba (poorly) hid the vase underneath her pillow and left the bedroom to go answer the door, already knowing who it was.

“The rent.” Taye demanded, holding his hand out. Elphaba hadn’t even opened the door all the way before he spoke the words. The dark skinned landlord stood stiffly in front of her doorway, dressed in business attire. He had the same condescending look that he always had fixed onto his face.

“You’re wasting your time.” Elphaba scoffed, and made to slam the door shut. Before she could get the door completely closed, a shiny black shoe stopped the action.

“Now listen, Miss Elphaba,” Taye started, forcing his way into the apartment, pushing the woman aside, and closing the door behind him. “I have been very lenient with you this past month.”

“Oh, is that what you call it?” Elphaba crossed her arms in front of her chest.

“However, you have made it increasingly difficult. Everyday, I hear the same things: ‘I promise I’ll have it to you by next week’ ‘just give me one more day, please.’ ‘I’m doing the best I can’” The landlord sneered with each quote.

It was true, Elphaba had been making up several excuses to buy her some more time. “I promise you, I’m very close to getting you your rent. I mean it this time. Honestly.”

“That’s actually exactly what I came here to discuss. I’ve come up with a solution to our little rent problem.” Taye took slow steps towards Elphaba. As much as she wanted to retreat from him, she knew she shouldn’t. Even though she was confident that she could put up quite the fight, the man was certainly faster and stronger than she was. When he was close enough, he raised an arm and began to stroke the green woman’s cheek with the back of his hand. By now, he was just mere inches away from her. “You see, I believe I have found a more efficient way for you to pay and you’d never be late on your payments ever again for as long as you shall live here. I’ve figured that from now on you could pay through certain… services.”

Breath was hot on Elphaba’s cheek now, with the hand that had previously been stroking it traveling downwards. Through the fabric of her frock, a hand gripped the very top of her thigh, dangerously close to a part of Elphaba she didn’t want that man touching. Before the hand could go any higher or lower, she made a move to push Taye away, but the man had already began to push her back against the nearest wall with greater force than she was able to muster. Elphaba did the only thing she was able to do at the time and kneed him in the crotch. Even though it didn’t cause Taye enough pain as she had hoped it would, it was enough for him to take a  few steps back and hold the injured area.

There were no words passed between the two. Taye straightened his posture and spat at Elphaba’s feet. He took threatening steps towards the woman and raised a hand, breathing heavily with anger. Before Elphaba could even think  about dodging out of the way, a painful sting erupted through the side of her face. She was on the floor with the large man towering over her. In such a vulnerable position, Taye had the ability to do anything to her. He knew it, too. He also knew that not doing anything would strike more fear into the green woman cowering at his feet than anything else he could do right now.

The landlord turned and left the tiny apartment, leaving Elphaba still in a defensive position on the floor. She wished there was something she could do about the attack, but no. There was nothing. As always, she just had to deal with it and let it be.

* * *

The next morning, Elphaba woke up in her dusty bed. She looked over to the nightstand and saw the Ozarovksi vase sitting where she had set it the night before. Once again, she found her fingers dancing across the ceramic surface. She let out a sigh and realized she would not be able to sell the vase. Not that no one would want to buy it, but more so because she doesn’t want to get rid of it. She would have to find another way to pay her landlord. A way that didn’t include the “services” he had in mind. Shuttering at the memory of what happened the night before, she got up from her bed and went to the bathroom.

Different colored bottles of oils lined the shelves of Elphaba’s medicine cabinet. Each one was different. Some of them had a different scents, others were for special purposes. She grabbed the one that she typically used to wash herself and got a rag from the towel rack. She poured some of the oil onto the rag and began to wash herself.

The woman went about her daily routine to get ready for work. Soon, the students would be getting back from their spring break and Elphaba felt as though the library should be in pristine condition for them when they do arrive. She wanted to get in early so she could do just that.

And so that she could spend as much time away from Taye as possible.

The walk to work was short, as it usually was. Elphaba’s apartment was only a few blocks away from the university and it was always a pleasant stroll. For her first few weeks living in the university town, many people were wary of Elphaba. Crowds parted for her whenever she walked through them and most people wouldn’t give her a second glance. Some people even crossed the street to walk on the other side when they saw her coming.

Nowadays, however, the people of the town were used to her. Some of the shopkeepers even smiled and nodded at her when she walked by. Today was no different. Elphaba walked down the street as she typically did and nodded at the shopkeepers that nodded to her first, returning smiles when there were ones to return. When she arrived at the university, she made her way directly to the library. As she had expected, no one was there. Not yet, at least.

She had only been dusting for about half an hour before she heard voices echoing throughout the building.

“Thank you Madame Morrible, it’s been absolutely horrendable, not knowing where it is!” A familiar voice spoke. She couldn’t quite remember where she had heard it before, but she knew that she had heard it before.

“Not a problem at all, my dear.” The dreadfully familiar voice of Madame Morrible said. “I’ll just find our janitor and get her to retrieve the lost and found bin for you. Oh, there you are Miss Thropp!”

Elphaba jumped up in shock, nearly falling off the stool she had been perched on to get one of the higher shelves she couldn’t quite reach. “Hello, Madame.” She greeted the horrific woman.

Behind the carp-like woman, stood a beautiful girl about Elphaba’s age. She was donned in a light yellow dress with a matching hat. She had magnificent blonde curls that just reached her shoulders. The green woman’s mouth hung open, but not because of the girl’s beauty; because she did in fact know her.

It was the Upland that allowed her to keep the vase she had stolen.


	3. Chapter 3

“Miss Galinda, Elphaba here will help you find your missing purse. Elphaba,” Madame Morrible turned and glared at the janitor. Grey eyes bore into her skin. “Be nice.”

The headmistress left the two girls alone, leaving the green woman to stare dumbly at the blonde, taking in the scent of her overpowering flowery perfume. Elphaba suddenly became very self-conscious, fearing that she may smell of garbage. It had been a while since she was able to get her uniform cleaned. Not being able to clean her own clothes the proper way due to her water allergy, she typically payed one of her neighbors to take her laundry and wash them for her. She has lately become accustomed to taking a rag drenched in her scented oils and scrubbing at the armpits until they smelt decent enough. Though, for the past few days she hasn't even been able to do that; she's been running low on her oils and needed to start using them sparingly. Galinda surely never had to worry about such distasteful matters. From what Elphaba has seen of her so far, she seemed to be the sort of person who was always exceptionally prestine.

Realizing that she had allowed her mind to wander, Elphaba suddenly stood rigid at the intrusive thought that the blonde may recognize her from the night in Frottica. Galinda stood a good distance away from her with a look of slight disgust on her face.

It's going to be fine, it's going to be fine. Elphaba thought. I'm sure she won't recognize me; there's no way.

“Well are you going to guide me to the lost and found or not?” The blonde spat. Elphaba loosened up a little and started moving, not making a response. This was certainly not the Upland that had been so kind to her just a few days before. Though she didn't exactly know what to expect, it wasn't as if she knew the blonde personally. Perhaps she had just caught her on a good night.

"You're back from break a little early, don't you think?" Elphaba asked. The tension between them had been growing too strong as they walked for her to withstand. The blonde trailing behind her cleared her throat and seemed to ignore the question. Elphaba walked on past another few rows of bookshelves and the door to the lost and found room was finally in sight.

"If you must know, my parents had business to attend to and were not able to make arrangements for me to get back to Shiz the day break actually ended. Now may we please go locate my purse?"

Elphaba was sure she had never seen the girl in the library before, so it was fairly indisputable that there was a very low chance that the purse would be in the library's lost and found. However, Elphaba went along with it. She guided Galinda into the dark room in the back of the building and fumbeled around on a desk pushed up against a wall to find matches. When she located them, she struck one against the edge of the box and brought it to the glass lamp on the desk, lighting the whick. The lamp gave off a faint glow, but it was enough to help the two girls do what they needed to. Elphaba retrieved the box that was the designated lost and found and shoved it into Galinda's arms with force that she soon realized was unnecessary. The blonde let out a grunt of pain that may or may not have been exaggerated and glared at the green woman. Galinda set the lost and found box on top of the desk and began to rifle through it. As Elphaba expected, she didn't find her purse and huffed, crossing her arms and sticking out her bottom lip in a pout.

"I don't understand. Where else it could be!" The blonde threw her arms up in frustration.

She turned to Elphaba and gave her an expectant look. Elphaba was not sure what Galinda wanted her to do about her problem, but she soon succumbed to the pout.

"Is there anything I can do?" The janitor asked, running a hand through her raven hair and sighing.

Galinda patted down invisible wrinkles in her dress. "I would say you could come and look through my dorm for it," she said. "But I don't want your grubby hands touching my things." She crossed her arms and huffed.

Elphaba scoffed and held her hands up for the blonde to see, causing her to start slightly. "Don't worry, my sweet, the green isn't contagious." Galinda smacked her hands away and glowered at the green woman. There was a moment long stare down between the two of them before the blonde turned and marched out of the library, not saying anything else to Elphaba.


	4. Chapter 4

That night, Elphaba found herself cloaked in the alleyways of Shiz, looking for an empty apartment to rummage through. She had her hood pulled completely over her head as she always did on these escapades as to hide her face from any witnesses. Always cautious, Elphaba was.

When she found an apartment that she was sure had been abandoned for the night, she scaled up the side of the stone building to reach its second floor window. Upon reaching it, she skillfully picked the lock of the window and carefully slid the glass up. In the dark, Elphaba did her best to take in the layout of the apartment. It was simple, a couch and a coffee table in the living room, only the necessities in the kitchen, a small bedroom with a single bed, and two bathrooms, one in the bedroom and one in a nook off the living room across from a coat closet. Elphaba checked the pockets of the coats in the closet, finding only a single silver piece forgotten in the pocket of a frumpy blue sweater.

There was a growling heard low in Elphaba's stomach that lead her to steal a small piece of bread from a kitchen cabinet. She also pocketed a few silver spoons from one of the drawers while she was at it. Preparing to resume searching the apartment, Elphaba heard a growling that certainly had not come from her insides.  A ragged dog appeared from the living room and lunged at the thief. She sidestepped, just barely missing the animal's attack. Not expecting the dog to recover so quickly, Elphaba felt a sharp pain emanating from her calf. She hissed in pain and kicked the dog away with her good leg.

The robber limped towards the window through which she entered and struggled to scale back down the wall. Halfway down, Elphaba lost her footing and came crashing down to the ground below her.  Not feeling that anything had broken, she tried to get to her feet, only to stumble back to the cold cement. Heavy footsteps sounded from in front of Elphaba. A large silhouette of a person loomed before her.

The next few moments were a blur before she finally passed out.

* * *

The verdant woman woke up the next morning in her own bed, safe and sound. For a moment she had thought that perhaps her escapade the night before had been just a dream. That thought was quickly dismissed when she attempted to move and felt the pain of a thousand needles go up her leg. Moving worn covers out of the way, she inspected her leg. The area in question was bandaged well beyond what she could have possibly managed to accomplish. Carefully, she slid out of her bed. It was then that she noticed that she had been clothed in pajamas that she did not remember putting on herself. Hanging on the closet doorknob was a worn blue sweater that she certainly did not own, yet seemed familiar in a way. Elphaba pushed the thought aside and left her room, limping as she went.

The moment she entered the connected living room/dining room/kitchen area she was assaulted by the smell of breakfast being cooked. A dark-skinned man was standing over the stove, his back to Elphaba, a pan with unidentifiable contents in one hand and a spatula cocked to the side in the other.

"Yeah, I don't think I did this right... What do you think?" The man turned around and held the contents of the pan out for Elphaba to see.

"Who the hell are you?" Elphaba shouted, taking a step back from the man. His face dropped and he looked almost hurt, even the pan and spatula in his hands drooped slightly. It was then that Elphaba noticed the beautiful blue diamond pattern tracing down the side of the man's face.

"I'm Fiyero, remember?" He asked, he bowed his head a little, reminding Elphaba greatly of a dog that thought it was in trouble. "I found you outside my apartment. I brought you up so I could fix up your leg, you had a pretty nasty bite. Then you told me you wanted to go home, so I brought you here. I didn't feel okay leaving you here alone, I wanted to make sure you were going to be okay. I wanted to make sure you would wake up in the morning and to make sure that you didn’t have a concussion." Fiyero lifted up the pan for Elphaba to see again "I-I went to the market and got some stuff to make breakfast, but I don't know if it came out right. It... It looks edible at least."

The memories from the night before began to filter back to Elphaba. Fiyero made his way to the dining table and set down the pan and spatula. Elphaba could now see that the contents of the pan were supposed to be a mix of hash browns and home fries. Burnt, but certainly still edible.

“You really shouldn’t be putting too much pressure on that leg, Miss Elphaba.” Fiyero cut through her thoughts. Elphaba felt a hand on her back gently leading her towards the table. The man pulled out a chair for her and helped her into it with a gentle grip on her elbow.

“What gives you the right to break into my apartment and tell me what to do?” Elphaba hissed, wrenching her arm away from him.

“Well, to be completely fair,” Fiyero began as he retrieved two plates and some silverware. He sat down at the table across from the green woman. “You did break into my apartment first. I’m letting you keep the spoons you took. In fact, you can have the whole lot of them if you want, including the forks and knives. I’ve been meaning to get new silverware for ages. I can bring them by some other time if you please, assuming there will be another time.” He gave her a smile that could only be viewed as charming. “I hope there will be. Also, I’m going to give you the benefit of the doubt and I’ll assume that the silver piece that fell out of your pocket at I was bandaging your leg did in fact belong to you. I put it on your dresser in the dish with your copper pieces.”

Elphaba muttered a shy thank you as she held back from completely devouring the serving of potatoes Fiyero had dished out onto her plate. She would be lying if she said she had been eating well for the previous few days.

Elphaba soon found another topic to pick apart to break through the silence that had consumed them. “What makes you think you bandaged my leg properly? It could be infected. I could have rabies right now for all you know. You’re no doctor by the looks of your shotty apartment.”

“You’re one to talk about ‘shotty apartments'" Fiyero chuckled as he looked around Elphaba's tiny, deteriorating apartment. Elphaba found herself smirking as well. "And I may not be a doctor, but I am a veterinarian and I know for a fact that Tibetarius does not have any rabies or diseases of the like fo you to worry about. You'll be fine. You just have to change the bandages every few days. Every other day would be most preferable. If you want, I could come over and do it. You know, seeing as how I have the supplies for it and such." Fiyero looked down and began racking at what was left of his hash browns and home fries.

It was then that Elphaba realised that this Fiyero boy had not at all been taken aback by her verdigris. In fact, he seemed very comfortable with it. Surely it wasn’t due to his own dark coloring and blue diamonds? Even though they made him look different, she knew those markings anywhere. They were the markings of royalty in the Vinkus. Or at least the marking of highly respected people. Though they may not seem that way to people of the Gillikin, they were certainly beautiful. They made him beautiful.

“Back home, this was my maid’s favorite recipe.” Fiyero cleared his throat and stood up. “Well I can see that you should be able to make it through. I’ll be back tomorrow to redo the bandages. I must go, I have to be at work in an hour.”

“Thank you.” Elphaba said sheepishly as the man made his way to the front door. He gave a curt nod and opened the door. His first attempt to exit was not successful for he crashed right into the doorframe. Getting over his daze, he chuckled, stuttered a goodbye and left for good.


End file.
